Blakespotting: News about William Blake, January 2018

The Blakean new year began with a bang as an important exhibition opened at Petworth House in Sussex. Entitled William Blake in Sussex: Visions of Albion and organised by the National Trust, the owners of Petworth, this offers a rare opportunity to view some of the works created by Blake during his sojourn at Felpham in 1800-1803 and collected here together for the first time. Petworth itself, home of the 3rd Earl of Egremont when the Blakes were living nearby, has long housed the artist’s remarkable The Last Judgement which was commissioned by the Earl. Having opened on January 13, the exhibition will run until March 25 and opening reviews were exceptionally complimentary. The Guardian described him as “now revered as one of the greatest figures in literary and artistic history”, while The Timescalled it a “revelatory show”. For more information, including ticket prices, visit the National Trust web site.

For those seeking a more intimate insight into Blake’s life on the Sussex Coast, the National Trust is also offering brief visits to the cottage in Felpham where he and his wife lived. As the cottage is empty and awaiting renovation, there are only a few times that it is open to the public (on February 14, 21 and March 14). Twenty miles from Petworth, the trustees are clearly hoping that a number of visitors will take up this opportunity to explore more fully Blake’s time outside of London.

A less grand but, in many ways, rather wonderful exhibition is also running in Sheffield at the Graves’ Gallery, part of the public library in the city. William Blake: The Book of Job, brings together a later reprinting of his 1826 illustrations to Job, and is on display until March 3. In the United States, the William Blake Gallery, set up by the antiquarian book collector and owner of a huge selection of Blake-related works, John Windle, in San Francisco, also announced at the end of the month a new exhibition, BLAKE BOOKS: The Commercial Engravings of William Blake, A Tribute to Gerald E. Bentley, Jr. Opening on February 2, it will run until April 30.

Another exhibition covered here previously, William Blake and the Age of Aquarius at Northwestern Block Museum of Art, attracted an amusing review of its catalogue by Dominic Green at The Spectator. While slightly facetious in typical Spectator fashion, it also demonstrates a fine appreciation of some aspects of Blake’s reception, an artist “whose visionary voice continues to inspire each new generation”. Another contribution to his reception history is John Yau’s The Wild Children of William Blake, which explores ways in which Blake serves as a model for modern visions of the arts rather than necessarily as a direct source of inspiration. Published by Autonomedia, hopefully I’ll be reviewing it here once it becomes available in the UK. Finally, another new announcement for 2018 was that for the forthcoming publication of Her Infernal Descent by Lonnie Nadler and Zac Thompson, illustrated by Kyle Charles. Published by AfterShock, the graphic novel will tell the story of a grieving mother’s descent to hell “guided by the spirits of William Blake and Agatha Christie” and looks to be one of the most original works inspired by Blake for some time.